Improvement in pruning-shears



No, 118,492, Patented Aug. 29, 1871.

i UNITED STATES FRANK SMILEY, 0E EATAvIA, NEw YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRUNlNG-SHEARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,492, dated August 29, 1871.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK SMILEY, of Batavia, in the county of Genesee and State of New York, have invented a certain Improvement in Pruning-Shears, of which the following isa speciiication: l

My invention consists of a reversible knife or cutting-blade of pruning-shears constructed with two cutting-edges, so as to enable the knife to be reversed when one of its edges becomes unservic'eable. I

In the accompanying drawing, Figure I is an elevation of my improved implement. Fig. II is a partly-sectional elevation in line .t x, Fig. I.

Like letters designate'like parts in each of the gures.

A is the crooked jaw, and A the handle thereof, of ordinary construction. B is the cutterplate bearing secured to the side of the jaw A by rivets b, so as to leave between the jaw and vthe cutter-plate a space in which the knife or blade works. C is the knife or cutting-blade, and C the handle thereof. The jaw A and the knife C are pivoted together at d. The knife C is constructed with two similarly-formed cuttingedges, c c, arranged symmetrically on each side of the center line thereof, and formed so as to correspond with the face of the crooked jaw A. e e are the bearing-surfaces of the knife at the joint d. They are so arranged with reference to the cutting-edges c c that, when either one of said bearingsurfaces is vplaced next to the jaw A, the corresponding cutting-edge will be in the proper position between the jaw A and the cutter-plate B to insure a clean cut. The knife O is in this manner rendered reversible. The knife C is beveled froln'the center line toward the cutting-edges, either on both sides or only on one side, as may be preferred.

My improved implement is capable of doing service twice as long as ordinary pruning-shears without requiring to be sharpened, and also avoids loss of time if one of the cutting-edges should suddenly become unserviceable.

I claim as my invention- The reversible knife G of pruning-shears, constructed with two cutting-ed ges, c c, and bear-in gsnrfaces e e, in combination with the jaw A, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

Witnesses: FRANK SMILEY.

A. R. WARNER, LEoNIDAs DoTY. 

